


Adding It Up

by innerslytherin



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-04
Updated: 2010-07-04
Packaged: 2017-10-10 09:34:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/98204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/innerslytherin/pseuds/innerslytherin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sean visits Hotch at his apartment and Rossi shows up.  Sean doesn't know about his brother's relationship but becomes a little suspicious cause Rossi seems to be too comfortable and knows where Hotch keeps things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Adding It Up

**Author's Note:**

  * For [blue_phlox](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=blue_phlox).



> This was written for Blue_phlox for the 2009 CM_exchange. Thanks to Resolucidity for the beta job and parenting notes!

  
Sean Hotchner had known since he was a kid that he wasn't as smart as his brother, but he was no dummy. He was used to Aaron being the over-bearing older brother, the one who tried to be strong for everyone and fix everything; that didn't mean he thought Aaron could get through his ex-wife's death on his own. Aaron might have practically raised Sean before their mother quit drinking and remarried, but that just meant it was time for Sean to be strong for Aaron in return.

Ever since Haley's death nearly eight months ago, Sean had made it a point to get down to visit his brother at least once a month. They'd spent Christmas with Aaron's teammates Dave and Derek, and thanks to a note in Sean's planner, he'd scheduled a visit to coincide with what would have been Haley and Aaron's twentieth wedding anniversary. He wasn't sure if it would be a big deal since they'd been divorced this time last year, but he figured it was better to be safe than sorry. It seemed he wasn't the only one who had that idea.

Sean had been at Aaron's for less than an hour. He'd had time to give Jack the new coloring book he'd picked up for him, accept a glass of bourbon from Aaron, and catch up on all the news about Aaron's _federales_. That was _all_ he'd had time to do when there was a brisk knock on the door--four short, confident raps. Jack jumped up from his coloring book as Aaron stood and went to open the door.

"Dave!" Jack shouted, and ran to jump up into David Rossi's arms. Dave gave a mock groan, but scooped the five-year-old up and gave him a loud bear hug. Aaron was grinning over Jack's head at Dave, which made Sean raise his eyebrows. It had been a long time since he'd seen Aaron grin like that. It was a relief to know his brother wasn't solemn all the time these days.

Sean stood to say hello and Dave shifted Jack to his left arm so they could shake hands. "Good to see you, Sean. How have you been?"

"I'm good," Sean said, smiling. "Work's going great; we've got a two-week waiting list for reservations at the restaurant. Jody's finally picked a date to shackle on my custom-fitted ball-and-chain, so keep August 15 free."

"How's that puppy of yours working out?" Dave asked. He'd given Sean a lot of advice at Christmas when he found out Sean had bought a golden retriever for his fiancée.

Sean laughed. "Not chewing things up too bad these days."

Aaron had been letting them catch up, but as Jack squirmed down out of Dave's arms, Aaron gestured Dave towards the couch. "Can I get you something to drink?"

"Ah, I'll get it myself." Dave waved a hand and went to the drinks cabinet around the corner. "You're almost out of Maker's Mark," he said, and only then did it occur to Sean that Aaron had added a combination lock to the cabinet when he moved Jack in with him. Clearly Dave visited often enough--and drank with Aaron often enough--to know the combination. Of course, that wasn't surprising, because Aaron had been just fine with Jack Daniels until he met David Rossi some fifteen years ago and got a crash course on bourbon.

Jack flopped back down on the floor to finish coloring his picture while Dave settled on the couch next to Aaron. He seemed to be sitting a little close, but maybe he was prepared for Jack to jump up and join them once he finished his picture.

"So you're really tying the knot, huh?" Dave asked. "You and Jody have been dating, what, three years now?"

"Four, actually," Sean said. "We met just a few months after I moved to New York, and I was doomed from the very first."

Dave grinned and glanced over at Aaron. "You like her, right big bro?" he teased.

"Hey, what does my opinion matter? He's never taken my advice on anything," Aaron said dryly. There was a spark of amusement in his dark eyes, though, that made Sean happy to see. "Yeah, I like her a lot."

"I like Aunt Jody!" Jack piped up. "She brings me candy!"

Dave snorted. "Yeah, I bet you like her."

"And she got me a toy for Christmas!" Jack said excitedly. Apparently it didn't matter that Christmas was five months ago. Sean grinned as Jack jumped to his feet and ran off to his room. He couldn't wait to tell Jody that her little toy medical kit had made such an impression.

"I swear I never had that much energy as a kid," he started to say, but he was interrupted by a thump and a wail of pain from the back of the apartment. He watched, wide-eyed, as his brother jumped up and dashed out of the room. He'd never seen Aaron move so fast. Dave was standing too, a moment slower, so Sean stood up too. He wasn't sure what you did with an injured kid. He hoped it wasn't serious.

He turned to look as childish sobs approached the living room. "We'll take care of it," Aaron was murmuring in a low, comforting voice that Sean remembered from his own childhood. "Maybe Dave will get the Neosporin and Band-Aids, what do you think?" Jack was cuddled up in Aaron's lap, his knee scraped up and bleeding sluggishly.

Dave was already heading out of the room. Sean watched him go, his eyes narrowing slightly. Dave seemed to know where everything was in Aaron's apartment. He could see knowing about the drinks cabinet, but first aid supplies? When Dave returned with a red plastic box in his hand a minute later, Jack's sobs had calmed a little and Sean was turning things over in his mind.

He knew the drinks combination. He sat a little too close to Aaron. He knew where the first aid kit was. He was obviously a favorite with Jack. He reacted almost as fast as Aaron to Jack's cry of pain. The thing it suggested to Sean was that Dave was more than just a close friend to Aaron. Strangely, it wasn't as much of a surprise as Sean would have expected.

Dave knelt in front of Aaron and Jack to clean the scrape and spray antibiotic on it. Then he blew across the wound just the way Aaron always used to blow across Sean's Bactine-treated skinned-up knees as a kid. A few minutes later Jack was cuddled up on the couch, content after the healing properties of a cartoon character Band-Aid and a grape popsicle. Aaron tucked a blanket around him and stroked his hair slowly.

Sean waited until he could catch Aaron's gaze, then tilted his head back towards the kitchen. It was a clear invitation, and Aaron didn't miss it. He glanced down at Jack, then shrugged and followed Sean to the other room.

"You got something you want to tell me?" Sean asked calmly. He wondered how long he'd been missing out on this.

Aaron studied him for a moment, probably gauging whether he could equivocate successfully, and then sighed. "We were going to tell you a year ago," he said, looking away. "When you and Jody had your Memorial Day cookout. But that was when the team got called up to Canada, and then..." He trailed off and shrugged.

He didn't need to explain. Canada, and then Foyet. Aaron blaming himself for disrupting his son's and ex-wife's lives. Sean feeling powerless to help as Aaron gave him two new keys to his apartment and the password to the alarm system and told him he was relinquishing leadership of his team. Haley's murder. It had all been too much for any one man to take, but somehow Aaron had managed to come out of it stronger than before. Sean couldn't find it in him to blame Aaron for not telling him.

Sean looked up at his brother, who was watching him with an anxious expression. Sean let him sweat for a few seconds, but finally he grinned. "Hell, man, I don't care. He's obviously been good for you. Here I was taking all the credit for you learning to smile again, but I guess it was all him, wasn't it?"

Aaron breathed out in a relieved whoosh, then gripped Sean's shoulder lightly. "Not all him, by any stretch," he said seriously. "You've helped me more than I can ever say."

The words brought a smile to Sean's face, and he nodded slowly. "Well. I guess I better go tell Dave I know he's my new in-law," he joked.

It was a pleasure to hear his brother laugh again.

_  
**Adding It Up, for [](http://blue-phlox.livejournal.com/profile)[**blue_phlox**](http://blue-phlox.livejournal.com/), Hotch/Rossi, PG**  
_


End file.
